Metered Parking to Take Root on Union Street

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Drivers will soon need to pay to park their cars on a stretch of Union Street that rubs shoulders with The Yard.

The New Brunswick City Council adopted an ordinance last week that clears the path for time-limit parking on the eastern side of the road, between Hamilton and Mine streets. The meters will follow a progressive rate schedule, which means people pay greater hourly fees the longer they remain in the spot.

“We had a lot of complaints about a lot of people parking on Union Street who parked there all day,” New Brunswick Parking Authority Lt. Antoine Johnson said during the Feb. 1 meeting. “So we decided to open it up for The Yard and a lot of the businesses out there.”

Johnson said some Union Street residents have noticed cars on the road that stay throughout the day. Their drivers, he said, presumably head to the train station or conduct other business in the city.

While the move eliminates some of the street’s free parking, Union Street residents have permits that allow off-street parking, he said.

Parking authority officials have said they plan to install 20 metered spaces on Union, which runs behind College Avenue, where 48 paid parking spots were recently removed to make Rutgers University’s flagship campus more pedestrian- and bike-friendly.

Since then, 49 metered spaces have been made available nearby.

Parking meters will be in effect on Union from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, according to the ordinance.

The first two hours of use cost $1.50 per hour. From there, rates rise by $1 per hour, culminating in $7 for the eighth and final hour of allowed parking, according to the ordinance.

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